Frequently Asked Questions

We get asked this question a lot. The short answer: it’s very different.

OneSmartWorld uses a scientifically validated psychometric instrument, the Four Dimensions Inventory, or 4D-i® to identify types of thinking that you like and rely on most. Then we give you tools to develop and apply the skills to work collaboratively with others - whether they think like you or not.

We don’t look at fixed personality types or traits. We focus on thinking styles which change over our lifetime and skills that can be developed. With coaching and practice, thinking skills can be trained for greater academic, professional and personal success.

Personality tools rely on an outdated understanding of the brain. The MBTI personality-type test and its derivatives like Insights, Personality Dimensions, True Colors and many others are based on Carl Jung’s 1921 Personality Types theory. The tests were developed in the 1950’s in a time when the prevailing belief was that people’s brains, I.Q’s and personalities didn’t change.

The assumption behind these tests was that knowing our own fixed personality type, and the types of others, would make us better at getting along by giving us context for other people’s actions, and perhaps a bit more empathy toward them.

These assessments not only incorrectly assumed that people’s brains stayed the same over time, but failed to offer a pathway for how people of different types might overcome their differences.

These tests were also designed in a time when hierarchical organizations made top down decisions and people typically worked with colleagues from our own culture, sex, race, ethnicity, and demographic. There was less need for cross cultural collaboration with people. Diverse, global teams collaborating on increasingly complex issues, was not the norm.

A lot has changed since Jung’s theory debuted. Over the last 100 years, neuroscientists have learned that our brains are highly adaptable, constantly changing, and not fixed. During the same time period organizations have flattened. Cross-functional project teams are responsible for the work of solving complex problems. Over the last 100 years the skills for success have evolved from specific technical capabilities, to higher order interpersonal and cognitive skills like adaptability, creativity, collaborative problem solving, critical thinking, interpersonal relationships, and self-leadership.

This is where OSW comes in!

The language of the 4D-i® tells you about how you and others on your team like to think. This knowledge can be used to train and develop underused thinking skills, like a muscle. This language can also be applied to groups to synchronize thinking in diverse teams. Colour-coded thinking processes align everyone’s thinking to the task at hand, while providing time for each type of thinking.

Once teams learn the colour-coded language, they can communicate, collaborate and work more effectively together. This saves time, money and frustration by going beyond personality, to getting work done. Focus is taken off the individual’s preferences to the kind of thinking that best addresses the problem of the moment. All members of the team agree to offer their best thinking by asking themselves and each other: Where do we all need to be to solve this?

At OneSmartWorld, we believe that everyone is smart, and that we are smarter together. We are dedicated to offering 21st century teams the tools they need to accelerate collaboration, solve problems, and find solutions to the most pressing issues of our time.

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More than 20 years ago, Bob Wiele of Ontario Canada, developed the Four Dimensions Inventory (4D-i®), to help people and teams know themselves better and work together more effectively. It started with the understanding that different people like to think in different ways, and that this is not only an asset for teams, but a necessity in the 21st century.

Based on Bob’s lifetime of research and consulting work with thousands of teams, he chose to focus the solution on thinking skills. First, looking at how individuals and teams think and then by applying customizable and repeatable thinking processes for team problem solving.

The 4D-i® is the outcome of five professional / organizational development goals:

1. Develop a new thinking skills framework using learnable cognitive and emotional thinking strategies.
   
   
2. Develop an on-line scientific assessment instrument to measure people’s preferences in the use of these thinking strategies, where they could receive and start using their results immediately without requiring explanation by psychological experts.
   
   
3. Build on-line coaching tools and resources to develop awareness and skills in the thinking skills.
   
   
4. Design a simple common language as a visual shorthand that individuals and teams can use to communicate their preferred thinking style as well as the stages of a thinking process.
   
   
5. Build high impact skills development programs to be delivered by a network of certified associates expert in their own fields.

Click here for more information on the development of the 4D-i®.

The Four Dimensions Inventory (4D-i®) is a self-assessment that tells you about how you like to think. It shows you which types of thinking you like to use the most, and which types you tend to use less often. The 4D-i® gives you a snapshot of your thinking at the moment, which acts as a starting point for the practice and development of all types of thinking, as needed. The goal is not to have high scores in every mindset and strategy, but to develop your ability to use each skill, when needed, and an understanding of when and why to use each one. The 4D-i® application includes coaching tips and resources to develop the 21 specific thinking strategies needed for overall cognitive skill and adaptability. For more information please read this.

For more information please read this.

A Smarter Meeting uses colour-coded processes to think through challenges and tasks and how best to address them. A smarter Meeting sets aside time for each type of thinking to happen. Once team members learn the colour coded language of the 4D-i® they can communicate, collaborate and solve problems more effectively together. Smarter Meetings save time, money and frustration by getting work done, collaboratively. The Smarter Meetings system makes it easier for a cognitively diverse team to contribute their best thinking, while challenging everyone to think in different ways.

Personal spirit is key to individual, team and enterprise performance. We understand personal spirit as being based on a set of three learnable success factors: positive outlook, sense of control and taking initiative. These are critical factors for our sense of self-efficacy and resilience. It used to be believed that a high IQ was the key to life and career success. It is in fact, the personal spirit strategies that prepare people for life success in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous situations. Our clients use their 4D-i® results to develop skills to bounce back when adversity hits, achieve the goals they set for themselves and go above and beyond what is expected of them, to create a real difference.

The 4D-i® is scientifically reliable and meets the criteria needed for scientific validity. The 4D-i® was developed by a team of organizational psychologists based in universities and the private sector. The instrument was normed in three separate studies, on a group of more than 20,000 working people in total. In its initial launch the 4D-i® exceeded the reliability benchmark in the study. The 4D-i® was the first psychometric to meet the standards to qualify for Canada’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development program.

Dr. Lyz Sayer, a leading Canadian expert in the use of psychometrics, in her overall assessment of the 4D-i®, concluded that the instrument has strong construct and content validity, high face validity based on the thousands of users across many sectors.

“Therefore, the 4D-i® is amply valid for the use for which it is being offered – to help individuals understand their own operating styles and the operating styles of others vis a vis thinking, intuition, communications, problem-solving, decision-making as well as personal spirit, and through this to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations, teams, and meetings anywhere where people are working together collaboratively.”
Lyz. Sayer, Ph.D.

People choose OSW for many reasons. One common thing we hear is that people are looking for something different. Many teams and leaders are tired of doing things in the same way, and come to OSW for our novel approach. People also come with a range of specific challenges, including:

• Leadership training needs a more effective assessment, beyond personality tests
• Team leaders want to save time and money to achieve three outcomes - professional development + great team building + new ways to solve problems and get work done
• New leaders looking for fresh ways to build their teams and work smarter together
• New teams, cross functional teams, hybrid teams need better tools and skills to work smarter together on hard problems
• Leaders want data to assemble stronger teams based on cognitive diversity

We offer public programs (please see the Programs page) and custom solutions delivered by our team of certified associates (please see the Our Team page).

We work with a growing network of OSW Certified Associates and channel partners who take OSW solutions to their clients through their professional coaching, training, consulting and facilitation to leaders, teams and enterprises in many different sectors.

We offer an in-depth Certification program that equips associates with the resources, tools and knowledge to provide their own clients with the OneSmartworld business solutions. Please see the programs page for the course outline.

When you are thinking about becoming a certified associate please contact us to discuss.